Musharraf admits nuclear aid to N Korea

Page Tools

President Pervez Musharraf has confirmed for the first time that
a Pakistani nuclear scientist had provided North Korea with
centrifuge machines that could be used to make fuel for an atomic
bomb.

In an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo, General
Musharraf said the former head of his country's nuclear program,
Abdul Qadeer Khan, had sent "centrifuges - parts and complete" to
North Korea, but did not divulge the number: "I do not exactly
remember".

General Musharraf also said Dr Khan might have sent North Korea
uranium hexafluoride, which can be enriched in centrifuges and then
processed into fuel for civilian nuclear reactors or atomic
warheads.

The President's statements are likely to bolster American
contentions that North Korea has a covert uranium enrichment
program and complicate the six-nation talks over North Korea's
nuclear program that are expected to resume on September 2.

General Musharraf reiterated his position that that he and other
members of Pakistan's military had not known that Dr Khan was
shipping nuclear hardware abroad. However, the disclosure raised
new questions about the Pakistani military's role.

Pakistani and US experts have said it would be virtually
impossible for Dr Khan to have removed large centrifuge machines
from the country's tightly guarded nuclear labs and ship them
abroad without the military knowing.

Dr Khan publicly confessed in January 2004 to having provided
nuclear weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, but gave
few details. General Musharraf pardoned the scientist, citing his
status as a national hero. Pakistani officials are investigating Dr
Khan, but the President has barred US and UN investigators from
questioning him directly.

The general's comments were Pakistan's first official
acknowledgment of nuclear technology transfers to North Korea. Dr
Khan, who is under house arrest in Islamabad, is believed to have
run the largest nuclear smuggling ring in history. US
non-proliferation experts said the disclosure was not a
surprise.

Page Tools

SPONSORED LINKS

More news

1124562975590-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/world/musharraf-admits-nuclear-aid-to-n-korea/2005/08/25/1124562975590.htmlsmh.com.auThe New York Times2005-08-26Musharraf admits nuclear aid to N KoreaSalman Masood in Islamabad and David Rohde in New YorkWorld